A car accident in Schaumburg can cause injuries that last long after the cars are fixed. Chronic nerve pain and neuropathy are especially tough because symptoms can last for months or even become permanent, making it hard to work, sleep, drive, exercise, or do everyday tasks. Crashes on busy local roads like Golf Road, Higgins Road, Roselle Road, Barrington Road, and Interstate 90 can be forceful enough to injure your spine, limbs, or nerves. Sometimes, the pain seems mild at first but later turns into burning, tingling, numbness, weakness, or sharp pain. If another driver was at fault, I can review your case to see if your nerve injury qualifies for compensation under Illinois law.
Nerves send signals between your brain, spinal cord, and the rest of your body. If a crash stretches, compresses, pinches, or injures a nerve, the symptoms can feel very different from regular muscle soreness.
A herniated or bulging disc may place pressure on a spinal nerve and cause radiating pain into an arm or leg. Trauma to the shoulder, hip, knee, wrist, or other areas may directly injure peripheral nerves. Severe swelling following an orthopedic injury can also place pressure on nearby nerves.
Some accident victims develop symptoms associated with radiculopathy, which occurs when a spinal nerve root becomes irritated or compressed. Others may be diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy or another form of nerve dysfunction.
People often describe neuropathic pain as burning, stabbing, electrical, shooting, or pins-and-needles feelings. You might also have numbness, extra sensitivity to touch, muscle weakness, trouble with coordination, or changes in your reflexes.
Symptoms can stay in one spot or move down your arm or leg. For example, if nerves in your neck are hurt, you might feel symptoms in your shoulder, arm, hand, or fingers. If your lower back is injured, you could have pain, tingling, numbness, or weakness that spreads through your buttocks and legs.
Chronic nerve pain can make it hard to sleep or focus. When pain lasts every day, it can affect many parts of your life, not just the original injury.
Since nerve damage is not always easy to see, having good medical records is very important for a car accident claim. Depending on your symptoms, doctors may use physical exams, MRI scans, nerve conduction tests, electromyography, or other tests.
Treatment can include medication, physical therapy, injections, nerve blocks, pain management, or surgery for more serious cases. Some people get much better with treatment, but others may have symptoms that last a long time.
I carefully review the medical evidence in these cases because insurance companies sometimes claim that nerve symptoms are just your opinion or not caused by the accident. Clear test results and steady treatment records can help show what happened and how the injury affects you.
Nerve damage can make it hard to do jobs that involve standing, lifting, walking, typing, driving, repeating movements, or sitting for a long time. Even office work can be tough if pain makes it hard to stay in one spot or focus for long periods.
If your injury prevents you from working temporarily, you may have a claim for lost wages. More severe cases can involve diminished earning capacity when a permanent condition prevents you from returning to the same occupation or limits the hours and duties you can perform.
I also consider future treatment costs and whether you may need continuing medication, therapy, medical procedures, assistive devices, or other care.
A car accident injury claim may involve several categories of damages. Economic damages can include medical expenses, rehabilitation costs, lost income, and reduced future earning capacity.
Illinois law also recognizes non-economic damages, including pain and suffering and disability. Chronic neuropathy can have a substantial effect on quality of life when ordinary activities become uncomfortable or impossible.
The value of any claim depends on the specific evidence. I consider the severity and duration of the condition, diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, employment consequences, limitations on daily activities, and available insurance coverage.
Illinois uses modified comparative negligence under 735 ILCS 5/2-1116. If you are found more than 50 percent responsible for the injury, you generally cannot recover damages. If you are 50 percent or less at fault, damages can generally be reduced by your percentage of responsibility.
This issue can arise when insurers dispute who caused a collision or claim that both drivers contributed to it. Evidence such as crash reports, photographs, witness statements, video footage, and vehicle damage may help establish responsibility.
Illinois generally requires an action for personal injury damages to be commenced within two years after the cause of action accrues under 735 ILCS 5/13-202. Different rules can apply in particular circumstances, which is one reason I recommend addressing a serious injury claim well before the ordinary deadline approaches.
Waiting can also make the factual investigation more difficult. Surveillance recordings may disappear, witnesses may become harder to locate, vehicles may be repaired, and important records may become more difficult to obtain.
Yes. A motor vehicle collision can injure nerves directly or create other injuries that compress or irritate nerves. Herniated discs, spinal trauma, fractures, joint injuries, swelling, and direct blows to the body can all potentially contribute to neuropathic symptoms.
The symptoms may include burning pain, numbness, tingling, electrical sensations, weakness, or hypersensitivity. Some people notice these symptoms immediately, while others recognize them after inflammation develops or another injury begins affecting a nerve. Medical evaluation can help determine whether the symptoms are connected to the collision.
A delay does not automatically mean that your condition is unrelated to the crash. Certain symptoms may become more obvious after swelling increases or when an injured disc or surrounding tissue begins placing greater pressure on a nerve.
However, insurers may use a delay in treatment as an argument against causation. I therefore look carefully at when symptoms first appeared, what you reported to medical providers, your diagnosis, diagnostic testing, and whether physicians relate the condition to the accident.
Potentially, yes. Permanent nerve damage can significantly affect the value and scope of a personal injury claim because the consequences may continue for the rest of your life.
I may consider future medical care, prescription costs, physical therapy, procedures, lost earning capacity, disability, pain, and restrictions on recreational and daily activities. A permanent injury generally requires particularly careful documentation regarding prognosis and expected future needs.
A preexisting condition does not automatically prevent you from bringing an injury claim. A collision can aggravate or accelerate an existing medical problem, resulting in symptoms that are more severe than they were before the accident.
Insurance companies frequently examine earlier medical records in these cases. I may compare your pre-accident condition with your post-accident symptoms, diagnostic findings, treatment, and functional limitations to identify what changed because of the collision.
The method depends on the suspected injury. Physicians may use neurological examinations, MRI imaging, electromyography, nerve conduction studies, strength testing, reflex testing, and other diagnostic methods.
Not every type of nerve pain will produce the same test result. That makes the complete medical record important. I look at the diagnosis, consistency of symptoms, diagnostic testing, treatment history, physician observations, and functional limitations rather than relying on a single test.
Yes. Continuing to work does not necessarily eliminate a personal injury claim. Chronic nerve pain can affect your life even when you remain employed.
You may require medication, treatment, workplace accommodations, or additional breaks. Pain may interfere with sleep, family activities, exercise, driving, household responsibilities, and recreation. I consider these effects when evaluating non-economic damages as well as any financial losses associated with the condition.
Chronic nerve pain and neuropathy can change how you work, sleep, move, and handle ordinary daily activities. When these symptoms result from another driver’s negligence, I can review the collision, medical evidence, treatment history, employment consequences, future care needs, and available insurance coverage to determine what compensation may be pursued.
SJ INJURY LAW represents people injured in car accidents in Schaumburg, Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Des Plaines, Elk Grove Village, Mount Prospect, Northbrook, Palatine, Rolling Meadows, Prospect Heights, Wheeling, Park Ridge, Rosemont, and Glenview, as well as Chicago and communities throughout Illinois.
If you developed chronic nerve pain, neuropathy, radiculopathy, numbness, weakness, or another serious condition after a vehicle accident, contact SJ INJURY LAW, a Schaumburg car accident attorney, to discuss your legal options. Contact our Schaumburg car wreck attorney at SJ INJURY LAW by calling (847) 434-3555 to receive your free consultation.
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